Pediatric Shoulder Arthroscopy Case Volume Is Uniformly Low for Graduating Orthopaedic Residents.

PURPOSE

To evaluate shoulder arthroscopy case volume for graduating United States orthopaedic surgery residents.

METHODS

We used the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education case log records to evaluate reports from academic years 2016 to 2020. Logs were queried for pediatric, adult, and total (pediatric and adult) cases. The 10th, 30th, 50th, and 90th percentiles of case volumes from 2016 to 2020 were presented to demonstrate case volume variability.

RESULTS

There was a significant increase in the average number of total (70.7 ± 35 vs 81.8 ± 45; < .001), adult (69 ± 34 vs 79.7 ± 44; < .001), and pediatric (1.8 ± 2 vs 2.2 ± 3;  = .003) shoulder arthroscopy cases performed by orthopaedic surgery residents between the academic year 2016 and 2020. Residents were involved in more than 36 times the number of adult cases compared with pediatric cases in 2020 (79.7 ± 44 vs 2.2 ± 3; < .001). The 90th percentile of residents performed 6 pediatric cases in 2020, compared with zero cases in the 30th percentile and lower.

CONCLUSIONS

Approximately one-third of orthopedic surgery residents graduate without having performed a pediatric shoulder arthroscopy.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

The findings from this study could help guide the revision of current Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education guidelines for orthopaedic surgery residents.